2 GUNS (Baltasar Kormákur). 109 minutes. Some subtitles. Opens Friday (August 2). For venues and times, see listings. Rating: NNNN
In an age of action movies dominated by the hyper-adrenalized, super-saturated aesthetic of Michael Bay, something like 2 Guns feels charmingly retro.
There’s breathing room between shootouts. Characters actually talk to each other about strategy rather than racing frantically from one ambush to the next. And when someone gets shot in the arm he falls down in agony, because being shot in the arm really, really hurts.
Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg play a pair of Texas gunmen who accidentally steal $43.125 million of the wrong people’s money and must shoot a whole lot of bad guys to get themselves out of trouble. You know the deal.
Baltasar Kormákur, the Icelandic movie star who directed Wahlberg’s similarly sturdy vehicle Contraband, isn’t out to make a meathead movie. He doesn’t spin the camera around the actors unless it’s spatially necessary, and he allows scenes to unfold at a pace that lets us get a feel for the people involved.
And he’s great with his actors, encouraging Washington to rediscover the mojo he misplaced years ago, and letting Wahlberg goof around in the Eddie Murphy/Chris Tucker role of the cocky motormouth. It’s a surprisingly good fit for him, especially after his almost-charming work as a murderous dullard in Pain & Gain.
Come to think of it, having Pain & Gain as a recent example of the overblown action aesthetic makes 2 Guns even more pleasurable it’s engaging rather than assaultive. Kormákur wants us to have as much fun watching Washington and Wahlberg – and supporting players James Marsden, Edward James Olmos, Bill Paxton and Fred Ward – as he clearly does.
You can’t help but enjoy the ride.
